Hispanic family may not spend holidays together due to deportation

Los Angeles – An Hispanic family separated by the mother's deportation and awaiting a decision on the father's immigration case asked U.S. authorities on Monday for a solution so that they could be together over the Christmas holidays.

Less than two weeks ago, Maria Elena Giron, the mother of three children ages 6, 10 and 14, was deported to her native Mexico and the father's immigration case is still being reviewed.

"How is it possible for the father to be in Guatemala, the mother ... in Mexico ... and the children ... here for the end-of-the-year celebrations?" Jorge-Mario Cabrera, the spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA, asked Efe.

Natalie, Diego, Jorge Jr. and their father, Jorge Giron, asked the authorities to pity them at a press conference at the CHIRLA offices.

Giron, who has lived in the United States for 22 years, is waiting for his immigration situation to be resolved and currently has to report to the authorities each week.

"The first thing I'm asking is for them to let me be with my children," the father said to immigration authorities.

Giron was a fugitive from justice when he was arrested but, he said, he never received a summons to appear in court.

"It's very tough to be separated and also when my little daughter asks me when her mother is coming and I can't give her an answer because unfortunately there's no date," he added.

The Girons have been married for 15 years, all of them spent in South Gate, California. Their children, the father said, are excellent students and the family has never had any serious problems with the law.

Jorge Jr., the oldest of the children, is a student at South East High School and asked the authorities not to deport his father and to let his mother return to the United States.

Meanwhile, Maria Elena Giron in a statement recorded in Mexico, told about the sadness it causes her to be far from her family, especially at Christmas.